The Rising of the Shield Hero S3

Wyndia and the Dragon. Her Story Revealed!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , ,

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 Ep 8

One minute, Naofumi and his party are cooing over their baby dragon, Gaelion. The next, it’s eaten the fused core of the dragons that Ren and Kizuna each killed. The latter is still mad at Ren and is ready to kill everyone. It seems their only hope lies in the dog girl, Wyndia, and her surprising connection to one of the dragons. 

How Did This Happen, Anyway?

The episode first establishes that the souls of two dead dragons possess Gaelion. As Rat explains, dragons in Shield Hero have an organ called a core that houses their memories. Since Gaelion is still young, the other two dragons overwrite his mind and body. In other words, he’s possessed and ready to kill anyone who comes near him. 

To make matters worse, Gaelion’s possession is taking its toll on Filo, who ate part of the core before. Now, Gaelion’s cursed Filo and started sapping her levels. The threat of the angry dragon and to Filo’s life is more than enough to prompt everyone to go after Gaelion. Thus, the group winds up traveling to the den of the dragon that Ren first killed.

Wyndia and Her Dragon Dad

While Ren’s slaying of the dragon and his careless decision to leave the body behind without burying it was already framed in a bad light, it’s only in this episode that the true extent of his mistake is laid bare thanks to Wyndia. As she reveals late in the episode, the dragon Ren killed and Naofumi fought as a zombie was her adoptive father, Gaelion. Worse, it’s revealed that after Ren killed her father, the villagers captured and sold her into slavery. They used his naivete for selfish purposes, leading to Wyndia’s distrust of Ren. 

The anime’s already well-established how the other three Cardinal Heroes have largely failed to live up to the mantle thrust upon them. They refused to work together, their pride kept them from listening to Naofumi, and they lost their parties and all trust. However, to know that Ren got tricked into making Wyndia an orphan and slave? That’s easily one of their biggest screw-ups. It also makes the sight of Naofumi’s group fighting the possessed Gaelion heartbreaking.

Return of the Dragon Emperor

Things only get worse as the party fights against the now massive dragon Gaelion’s become. Not only is it sapping Filo of her power, but it leads to her going berserk and running right toward the dragon. The group can only watch in horror as Gaelion swallows her whole to absorb her power. It’s like Cell from the Dragon Ball franchise! Worse still, even though Wyndia gets through to her father, the dragon emperor that Kizuna slew becomes dominant, ready to conquer anew.

The upside (for the fans): the fight between the reborn dragon emperor and the combined hero party is the best fight of the season yet. Naofumi, Rapthalia, Ren, and everyone else pull out all the stops to fight against the monster. It’s visually stunning in a way that the series hasn’t been since the first season. You can tell that the studio wanted this fight to live up to the fan’s expectations. Unfortunately, it’s also a fight that needs to be resolved by the end of the episode.

Yes, the episode ends midway through the fight. With most of the group on the ropes and Naofumi barely hanging on, it’s an ideal cliffhanger. Waiting a whole week to find out what happens next will be torture!

I Give “Dragon’s Den” a 4.5/5

Ren is a Kirito Wannabe, Confirmed!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , ,

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 Ep 6 Review

An interesting fact about Ren Amaki from Shield Hero: he’s a pretty obvious expy of Kirito, the main protagonist of Sword Art Online. AKA, one of the stories that made isekai a popular genre from the 2010s onwards. People know Kirito as either this lone-wolf gamer with a heart of gold or a sword-wielding badass. The anime makes it all the more apparent with Ren sharing the same seiyuu, or voice actor, as Ren in the native Japanese. Unlike Kirito, though, Ren is more of someone who wants to be a badass yet fails miserably when it counts. Case in point, this episode of Shield Hero shows Ren’s mindset before getting summoned and how he ended up the way he is now.

Kicking off with a flashback to Ren’s life before the present day, fans see how much of a contradiction the young man is. On the one hand, he likes being the strongest or being seen as the strongest and having others sing his praises. On the other hand, though, he’s a lone wolf who is unsure how to interact with his peers, and thus fails to understand the value of the teamwork. As a result, when he got isekai’d, his whole party only fed his ego, exacerbating the problem. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Ren kept thinking he was all his party needed, and neglected their own growth. Which came back to bite him tragically when his party got slaughtered by the Spirit Tortoise. 

Then, in a move surprising no one but himself, Witch robbed him of his gear and money. After that, the same guys who attacked Naofumi’s party try to kill him, only he’s got no party to help him; no deus ex machine like S’yne; and none of the townspeople want to help him. He’s all alone. And that leads him to activate not one, but two, cursed series for his Cardinal Sword and become a bandit leader.

The difference between Ren and Kirito is that, while Kirito started out as a lone wolf, he managed to grow out of it. He opened himself up to others, made friends, and even got a girlfriend. Ren was never willing to take that first step, though, despite dying saving someone else’s life. He never had the kind of people that Naofumi found, which only served to reinforce these negative qualities. All of these things ultimately drove Ren to the point where Naofumi finds him. Wearing a tuxedo mask, fighting Motoyasu, and corrupted by the curses of gluttony and greed. 

Ren Gets a Reality Check

Clearly, Ren is in need of a reality check, and where Naofumi fails, his friend, Eclair, steps up. And, since we skipped out on the second season, Eclair is the daughter of the Lord that ruled the land that Lulorona Village’s a part of. When he died, she hunted down the slavers who kidnapped the villagers, only to get imprisoned by the Three Heroes Church until Naofumi brought them down.

The fight between Ren and Eclair is short but important for two reasons. Firstly, despite him being a Cardinal Hero, Ren gets his butt kicked by Eclair, showing him how weak he is. It’s even implied that Eclair wasn’t fighting him seriously, to boot, driving the point home further. Secondly, Eclair cuts to the root of Ren’s problems: he doesn’t know what he wants beyond the role he was given. He lacks the resolve needed to point his strength towards something worthwhile, stagnated from that, and hates himself for it, since it means he got his party killed. 

That is the power of the “fight no jutsu” and “talk no jutsu” at work in tandem.

With the main conflict now resolved, the episode wraps up with the two assassin’s from before attack the group while they’re recovering. However, Motoyasu kills them both in two seconds thanks to taking Naofumi’s training advice, and Raphtalia kills their souls so they can’t come back. One less problem to deal with, and two of the Cardinal Heroes now willing to listen to Naofumi.

This wasn’t one of the most exciting episodes of the season, but nonetheless, it was an enjoyable one. We got to see inside Ren’s mindset and learn why he is who he is. Furthermore, getting to watch him see reason was very satisfying. With six episodes left in the season, the only hero left to find is Itsuki. Fingers crossed, Naofumi finds him before he can get hurt or cause too much trouble. 

I Give “Where You Point Your Strength” a 4/5

Naofumi Gets More Enemies on His List

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Rising of the Shield Hero S3 Ep 5 Review

There seems to be a recurring trend in Shield Hero. Whenever things start looking good for Naofumi, life throws him a curveball or two. First there was the thing with Witch (that’s what Malty shall be henceforth called). Then he went on the run from the Three Heroes Church. The attack of the Spirit Tortoise and traveling to Glass’ world. Now, the universe throws Naofumi another curve ball. Not only are there more world’s than his, Raphtalia’s, and Glass’, but more people want him dead. 

After giving up on the now full-blown Filocon that is Motoyasu, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo are hoofing it back to Lulorona Village. Without Filo’s beloved carriage, to boot. Suddenly, they’re ambushed by a pair of arrogant, yet powerful, men in black hoods. Much like the surprise, scripted boss fight in a JRPG, their attackers prove too dangerous to fight in their current state. One of them even drops a meteor on them like they’re Sephiroth or Madara Uchiha! Thankfully, they’re beaten thanks to their own hubris and the intervention of S’yne. 

As S’yne reveals once they’re back in Lulorona Village, she’s not from their world. She was the Vassal Hero from a world that was destroyed by the people their assailants work for. Emphasis on the ‘work’, as despite killing them, S’yne states that they will return. It’s like the equivalent of respawning in a video game after dying. While it may seem like a lazy way to bring back enemies, Shield Hero seems to use it to emphasise how dangerous this mystery group is. If they’re powerful enough to invade other worlds and destroy them, then Naofumi should heed S’yne’s words. 

Some good does come out of this skirmish, though. While Naofumi still doesn’t trust her, he lets S’yne stay in Lulorona Village. The downside to having her come back after a single episode, though, is that it renders the sight of her leaving seem pointless. On the upside, though, the debuff’s their attackers used on Naofumi’s party managed to get rid of the curse they got at the end of last season. 

Despite this unexpected event, things continue to go well for Naofumi and his allies. They’re getting stronger training in armed combat and the Hengen Musou martial art courtesy of Old Lady Elrasla. So much so that Naofumi’s able to take a number of them to get a class upgrade. Again, another example of RPG elements that work well in this story. Now, all they need is someone to test their prowess against. As fate would have it, Eclair knows the perfect targets.

Ren Has Become a Chuni Edgelord

A group of bandits has been attacking stray adventurers and travelers on the roads nearby, prompting Naofumi to take a group to hunt them down. However, when he finds their leader, he’s surprised to learn who it is: it’s Ren, fighting Motoyasu.

You don’t need to have read the light novels to connect the dots here. Witch burned Ren like she did Naofumi and Motoyasu, and now he’s gone all in on his edgelord persona, complete with black armor and a mask that, honestly, looks dumb on him. As for Motoyasu, he likely only found Ren because he was looking for Filo, to her dismay.

I’ve never fully read the light novels, so I don’t know what exactly happens, but it seems like the anime’s trying to condense a lot of important details. However, given the fact that this season only has 12 episodes, it feels necessary. And the end result remains the same by showing viewers the most important parts of what’s happening. Plus, while it was lighter on the action, the episode does demonstrate the new enemy that Naofumi has. We should expect to see them again soon.

Also, Motoyasu now deserves to be on the FBI’s list of lolicon’s.

I Give “Each of Their Paths” a 3.5/5